Plus: Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has left the UK and is upping his knowledge of Spanish in preparation for taking on his next role; Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff now says Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong is one of the club's 'untouchables'
Thursday 22 December 2022 08:07, UK
All the top stories and transfer rumours from Thursday's newspapers...
THE SUN
Real Madrid are ready to spend almost £1bn to bring Kylian Mbappe to the club from Paris Saint-Germain - the total includes a transfer fee of £132m and more than £500m in wages.
Argentina could put Lionel Messi on one of their banknotes as part of plans to celebrate his first World Cup final success.
Thomas Tuchel has left the United Kingdom and is, according to reports in Germany, upping his knowledge of Spanish in preparation for taking on his next role.
Edouard Mendy snubbed a six-year contract offer - because Chelsea are not showing him enough "respect" over wages.
Erik ten Hag is set for a selection headache as Manchester United are in the middle of a defensive injury crisis.
Arsenal will attempt to sign Youri Tielemans on a free transfer when his Leicester contract expires in June, according to reports.
Tottenham are interested in signing Pedro Porro, according to reports.
Newcastle are hoping to sign Ivan Fresneda from Real Valladolid but the fee they may have to pay is double what the Magpies value him at, according to reports.
DAILY EXPRESS
Liverpool are serious in their attempts to sign Sofyan Amrabat, according to reports.
DAILY MIRROR
Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff now says midfielder Frenkie de Jong is one of the club's "untouchables" ahead of the January transfer window.
FIFA appeared to take a jab at Cristiano Ronaldo after Lionel Messi's recent World Cup triumph - before deleting the tweet in question.
The Premier League is not expected to follow FIFA's stoppage time directive which saw a number of World Cup games enter the 100th minute and beyond.
Aston Villa are set to be without their World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on Boxing Day against Liverpool.
Brazil are set to make the unprecedented move of paying homage to Lionel Messi after the superstar captained their bitter rivals Argentina to winning the World Cup.
THE TIMES
Tottenham have been warned they could derail the United Kingdom's bid for Euro 2028 if they agree a stadium sponsorship deal with Google, or another company, which will not allow them to take the name off during the tournament.
Paul Farbrace believes Ben Duckett should keep his spot as England opener for the Ashes after a superb return to Test cricket in the one-sided series against Pakistan.
The Premier League has applied to hold trials of rugby-style temporary concussion substitutes next season to allow medics 10 minutes to check players who have suffered head injuries.
Mikel Arteta has conceded that Arsenal may have to sign another forward in January to make up for the loss of the injured Gabriel Jesus.
The number of Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs showing signs of financial distress has increased by 50 per cent this year, according to a new report.
Jofra Archer will return to the England squad for the first time in almost two years for the one-day international series with South Africa, but teenage leg-spinner, Rehan Ahmed, is set to be left out of the Test tour to New Zealand, despite his dream debut this week.
DAILY MAIL
England spinner Adil Rashid felt pressured by Azeem Rafiq into backing racism claims that he does not remember, according to a senior figure at Yorkshire in a signed witness statement provided to the ECB to help their case against Michael Vaughan.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised Gianni Infantino's plans to reform the Club World Cup and expand the World Cup to 48 teams.
Bosses at Eintracht Frankfurt claim to have been offered the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and joked "he was likely offered to every Champions League club" as the Portugal forward continues to wait on his next club after leaving Manchester United.
Arsenal and Tottenham are both showing interest in Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister but appear to be prioritising positions other than midfield, which could leave Atletico Madrid in pole position to make their move.
Leicester City would love to make a move for Angers and Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi if their transfer budget will allow it, but his potential £39m price tag and their interest in also signing Sassuolo's Jeremie Boga could make that tough.
Alice Pignagnoli, a goalkeeper for Italian third tier women's side Lucchese, claims to have been fired after telling the club she was pregnant.
Chelsea are close to agreeing a deal worth around £18m for Vasco da Gama midfielder Andrey Santos.
Aston Villa are braced for interest in Emiliano Martinez from Europe's elite after his heroics for Argentina at the World Cup.
Cristian Romero's father Victor has claimed Tottenham want the defender to return to the club as soon as possible after Argentina's World Cup triumph.
Luis Suarez will reportedly make a decision this week on where he goes next in the latest instalment of his club career - and will decide between joining Mexican side Cruz Azul or Brazilian team Gremio.
Steve Borthwick's quest to launch an England revival is set to be boosted by support from the Premiership clubs to radically overhaul the squad if he wishes.
THE ATHLETIC
Kylian Mbappe led France's half-time speech during Sunday's World Cup final, imploring the team to take advantage of "the match of a lifetime".
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Gallagher Premiership clubs are at risk of "heading for disaster" with their collective net debt amassed over the last six years having reached £300m.
Next season could see the legal tackle height lowered to the navel for grass-roots rugby union in England.
THE GUARDIAN
Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed are expected to sit out England's Test series with New Zealand in February as management juggle their resources ahead of a busy Ashes and World Cup year - Ahmed could instead head to the Indian Premier League.
DAILY STAR
Olympiakos' B team refused to return to the pitch during their clash with Athens Kallithea in protest at a series of questionable decisions made by the match referee, with the game eventually having to be abandoned. A later statement also criticised Greek referees chief, former Premier League official Steve Bennett.
SCOTTISH SUN
Derek McInnes has claimed Kyle Lafferty's SFA ban has put his mental health at risk.
